Ed Wagner (6/28/2013)I admit I've never used the SOUNDEX or DIFFERENCE functions before, so I got to learn something today. That's always a good way to start the day. Thanks for the interesting question to end the week.

paul s-306273 (7/2/2013)And 'sequel' is the correct pronunciation of SQL...

Small correction. For the product SQL Server, the correct pronouciation is "sequel server". In the (then still printed) product documentation of SQL Server 4.21, the "correct" explanation was explicitly included on one of the first pages.

However, the language "SQL" (which is used, in different dialects, by different RDBMSes) should be pronounced "es-queue-el", since this is an abbreviationm. (For "Structured Query Language" - but I'm sure you already knew that).

Interestingly, the dialect of SQL (es queue el) that is implemented by SQL (sequel) Server is called T-SQL - which is pronounced "tee sequel" (aka cup-o-tea part 2), even though this is an abbreviation for Transact-SQL (Transact es queue el).

paul s-306273 (7/2/2013)And 'sequel' is the correct pronunciation of SQL...

Small correction. For the product SQL Server, the correct pronouciation is "sequel server". In the (then still printed) product documentation of SQL Server 4.21, the "correct" explanation was explicitly included on one of the first pages.

However, the language "SQL" (which is used, in different dialects, by different RDBMSes) should be pronounced "es-queue-el", since this is an abbreviationm. (For "Structured Query Language" - but I'm sure you already knew that).

Interestingly, the dialect of SQL (es queue el) that is implemented by SQL (sequel) Server is called T-SQL - which is pronounced "tee sequel" (aka cup-o-tea part 2), even though this is an abbreviation for Transact-SQL (Transact es queue el).

No, SeQUEL wasn't trademarked by IBM - the trademark SEQUEL belonged to Hawker-Siddley, and that's why the language isn't called SEQUEL.IBM originally intended to call the language "Structured English Query Language", SEQUEL for short, until they realised that the name "SEQUEL" .was someone else's property so they dropped the English to get Structured Query Language and used the obvious abbreviation, SQL.

For Ingres, Stonebreaker decided to do an implementation of Codd's Alpha query language definition rather than IBM System R's SQL, but of course he couldn't call it ALpha because in the context of query languages that was IBM's property, and the query language that Ingres originally supported was just called Query Language, or QUEL for short; later an SQL implementation was added to Ingres, and Postgres's query language, PostgresSQL, has features from both QUEL and SQL. SDL's Ellison, on the other hand, reckoned from the start that trying to imitate IBM was a good bet so he used the System R language SQL for Oracle, and kept that name as they changed the company name first to RSI and then to Oracle to match their DBMS's name.

aochss (7/3/2013)At least here in Michigan the result of a Soundex of your last name is the same as (or close to) the first 4 characters of your driver's license number.

Anton

So in Michigan someone called "Machinery" will have a DL number beginning "M256"? I suppose that's possible. Or did you mean it would begin "MCNR" (soundex minus the conversion from letters to numbers)? In the UK the first four DL characters would be "MACH'' which is not much like anything connected with soundex.